“Scork?”
“Spoon, fork, and cork. Get it?”
“Ah,” Davis said, though his eyes (or, at least, the good one) never left the object in Keo’s hand.
“But the word ‘scork’ makes me queasy,” Keo said. “So I prefer to call it a spork anyway and ignore the whole ‘cork’ part. Even though, obviously, it’s incorrect.”
“You’re a man of eccentricities.”
“No one’s ever called me that before.”
“So, what are you going to do with that...spork?”
“I’m going to see how much pain you can take.” Keo twirled the utensil between his fingers. “I would have used the Ka-Bar, but it wouldn’t hurt nearly as much and you might bleed out too soon. I can’t risk that.”
Davis stared at the spork, as if mesmerized by its movements. “And that’s…not risky?”
“It’s a lot harder to cut an artery with this.”
Davis swallowed. “I won’t tell you where he is.”
“You said you didn’t know where he is.”
“I don’t. Not at this very moment.”
Keo stopped twirling the spork and pressed his forefinger against the metallic tines. “They’re pretty sharp. Not that sharp, but pretty sharp. It’ll puncture skin, and even bone, if you push hard enough. I saw it go through a forehead once…”
Davis didn’t have to say anything, because his tensing body gave it away. The man looked as if he was mentally and physically preparing to spring up to defend himself, but either his bound arms and legs prevented him from taking action at the moment, or he knew it wouldn’t do any good. Instead, he remained nervously perched on the bale of hay.
“Tell me where to find Mercer,” Keo said. “Is he in Lochlyn?”
“No,” Davis said. “I told you. The last time I saw him was back at The Ranch, before all of this. I don’t know where he is now.”
“And you won’t tell me where this Ranch is…”
“No.”
Keo sighed and lowered his hand. “All right. This is getting ridiculous. I’m running out of sunlight, and you’re just pissing me off now.”
He began walking toward Davis.
The man pushed himself up from the haystack and attempted to move toward the stairs, but he predictably tripped on his bound legs and fell with a thump! to the debris-strewn floor on his face. He tried to roll over onto his back, but by the time he finally managed it, Keo was already standing over him. Even in this shadowy part of the barn, Keo swore the eating utensil actually gleamed.
“One last chance,” Keo said. “Tell me where to find Mercer.”
“Jesus, please,” Davis said.
Keo grinned. “I’ve been called a lot of things, but I have to admit I’ve never been mistaken for our Lord and Savior before. You a religious man, Davis?”
“Yes...”
“Me, I’ve never had much use for it. More of a hassle in my old line of work. So tell me, Davis. What did you used to do before all of this?”
“I was a teacher...”
“Cool. I killed a teacher once.” Keo sat down on Davis’s chest, put his hand on the man’s forehead, and easily pushed Davis’s head back against the rotten floor despite his attempt at resistance. “He screamed and screamed...”
“Oh, God…”
“It took a while, and it was messy…”
“Lochlyn,” Davis said, almost spitting the word out.
Keo sat back a bit. “Lochlyn?”
“You can find Mercer through Lochlyn.”
“You said he wasn’t there.”
“He’s not, but you can find him through there.”
Keo let go of Davis’s forehead. “Go on...”
“We’re using Lochlyn as an FOB. You know—”
“Yeah, I know what FOBs are. Go on.”
“The last flight out is tomorrow. Everyone involved in this area is supposed to be back by then. Including Butch and me.”
“What were you and the other guy doing out here, anyway?”
“Perimeter security. In case of collaborator counter-attacks.”
“What happens when you don’t come back?”
“I guess they’ll know something happened. They’ll be ready for you,” Davis said, and Keo thought the other man wanted badly to smile but was doing everything possible to swallow the urge.
“Where’s it going?” Keo asked. “The flight?”
“The Ranch. If you want Mercer, he’s probably going to be there.”
“Probably?”
“I’m a small cog in the machine. I’m not privy to all his movements. But it’s your best bet.” Davis let out a heavy sigh and closed his one good eye for a moment before opening it again. “If you’re going to kill me, just make it fast. I’d like to skip the prolonged pain part if at all possible.”
Keo stood up and put the spork away. “See, that wasn’t so hard. I knew you’d come around.”
“Fuck you.”
“Not right now; we both have headaches.”
Davis struggled to sit up, pushing against the floor using his elbows. Somehow, he managed it after a few tries.
“I’m curious,” Keo said. “What makes someone follow a man like Mercer?”
“You want the truth?”
“That would be nice.”
“There are three types of people running around out here. The true believers, the nonbelievers, and everyone else in the middle.”
“Which one are you?”
“Everyone else.”
“So why do the nonbelievers follow Mercer if they don’t buy what he’s selling? I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it’s dangerous out there.”
Davis shrugged and looked toward the barn doors, as if he didn’t want anyone else to hear what he was about to say next. “He saved our lives. Most of us wouldn’t be here if not for him. That’s the kind of thing that buys a lot of loyalty.”
“But you don’t believe in his war.”
“What we’re doing out here...” He focused on Keo again. “You know? About the attacks on the towns?”
Keo nodded.
“I’m just a schoolteacher,” Davis continued. “I didn’t even know how to fire a gun until the world ended. Butch believed, though. He was one of the true believers. Me, I’m just trying to get by. Mercer saved my life. He saved all of our lives. I owe him…” He shook his head. “But I don’t owe him to kill old men and pregnant women and children.”
Keo crouched in front of Davis and stared at the man’s heavily bruised face.
Davis looked back at him. “I’m telling the truth. All of it.”
Keo ignored him and asked instead, “How’s the face?”
“It’s numb. Everything’s numb. I know my right eye is the size of my foot at the moment, but I can’t feel it. Or my nose. Or my mouth. I can hear how I sound, but thank God I can’t feel the reasons why.” He reached up with his bound hands and touched his cheek, wincing at the contact. “Were you really going to do it? Use that spork on me?”
Keo nodded. “Yeah, I was.”
“Well, fuck.”
“Yeah.”
“So, what now?”
“Tell me about Mercer.”
“And then?”
“Mercer. What does he look like?”
“And then?” Davis pressed.
“Then I move on to Lochlyn, and if Mercer’s not there, I go on to this ranch of yours.”
“What about me?”
“I don’t need you anymore, so you stay here.”
“I need a gun. If you’re going to leave me behind, I need a gun.” He held up his bound hands. “And you have to release me.”
“All right.”
“You swear.”
“Only on Fridays, but never on Sundays.”
“Fuck you,” Davis said. “I mean it. You swear you’re telling the truth.”
Keo raised his right hand and smiled at Davis. “Scout’s honor.”
2
Lara
&nbs
p; “Port Arthur’s a no-go,” Danny said through the radio. “It’s locked tighter than a virgin’s sphincter.”
“You know a lot about virgin sphincters, babe?” Carly asked.
“Hey, I hear things.”
“I bet you have.”
“Any trouble getting from Starch to Port Arthur?” Lara asked, and Carly repeated the question into the microphone.
“Nothing we couldn’t handle,” Danny said, but didn’t expand on his answer.
He was somewhere outside the Texas port city with Gaby and Nate, though he hadn’t given any specifics just in case someone was listening in on their frequency. It was a small chance, but these days even the smallest something had the potential to blow up in your face.
Just in case, right, Will?
“What does he think the collaborators are doing in Port Arthur?” Lara asked, directing her question at Carly.
“What am I, your personal parrot?” Carly said, and handed the microphone over to her. “I already spent ten minutes talking to him before you showed up. That’s about nine minutes too much with Danny, in case you were wondering.”
Lara smiled. That wasn’t even close to being true, because she knew for a fact her friend had spent every day Danny was out there worrying about him. That was something they all did a lot of these days. Before Danny, it was her and Will.
Damn you, Will, you promised me…
She said into the radio, “Danny, what are they doing in Port Arthur?”
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Danny said. “The kid thinks they might be trying to block our path to open waters.”
“What do you think?”
“I don’t see the point. We’re special, yeah—the special-est in my very humble opinion—but we’re not worth committing this much manpower to capturing, especially with all the fun and games going on out here right now.”
“Mercer…”
“Well, I didn’t want to say his name, in case he’s like the Candyman or something.”
“The what?”
“The Candyman. Clive Barker? Tony Todd? One of the best slasher flicks of the 1990s?”
“Is that like the bogeyman or something?”
Danny sighed loudly through the radio. “You kids and your lack of respect for the classics of cinema...”
She grinned. It wasn’t that she was that much younger than Danny, but every now and then it was fun to needle him. She remembered when she used to get the same kind of joy out of doing it to Will.
“Anyway, back to our marvelous road trip,” Danny continued. “I figured we’ll chug on along south-like, find another part of the coastline to link up with you guys. It’s a big state, should be lots of empty beaches for the linking. I’ll radio back as soon as we locate one of them, and you can come over and pick us up. Easy as Mother and apple pie.”
“Easy, huh?”
“Hey, good things happen to those who think positively, or so I’ve been told.”
“I’ll have to give that a try.”
“Give it a swing,” Danny said. Then, “Carly tells me you guys are doing just fine without us.”
“We’re getting by. Spend more time worrying about yourself.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice.”
“That’s my man,” Carly said.
“Speaking of worrying about oneself, where’s Keo now?” Danny asked.
“I don’t know, out there somewhere,” Lara said. “He and Jordan were headed back to one of the towns when I last saw them. T-something.”
“They’re all T-somethings. Well, if I run across him out here, I’ll let you know.”
“What about Mercer’s people? Any problems with them since Starch?”
“Luckily we’ve been able to avoid them, too. They seem to be confining their operations further inland. Probably have more FOBs out there all set up and ready even before they launched this little adventure of theirs.”
“FOBs?”
“Forward Operating Bases. Places they’re using to launch their attacks.”
“Like that airport outside of Larkin.”
“Exactamundo.”
“How many of those do you think they have?”
“As few as one more, as many as a hundred.”
“That’s…a big number, Danny.”
“Mercer’s had a year to think this up. The guy’s… Well, momma always says not to say anything if you don’t have something nice to say.”
“That’s never stopped you before.”
“I’m learning, Lara, I’m learning…”
She smiled. “Good to know. What about this Mason guy?”
“What about him?”
“How useful has he been?”
“Got us around a couple of ambushes, so he’s not been a terrible investment in time and duct tape. But I’m thinking I might have to cut him loose real soon the closer we get to a new and less soldier-infested exfil point.”
Lara didn’t press for details; she didn’t want to know. Images of Gage being tossed into the ocean while she slept flashed briefly across her mind. She only needed to know that Danny would do what he had to in order to come back just as she had on the Trident. Just as Will had before them…
“How’re you guys for fuel?” Danny asked. “You’ve been doing a lot of running around out there. Did the tank finally get topped off?”
She exchanged a brief look with Blaine standing behind the helm to her left. The fuel. How many times had they discussed the topic? How many times had she stood right here on the bridge and gone through all the scenarios with Carly and Maddie and Bonnie? Too often, and every single time the results were the same.
But Danny didn’t need to hear that right now, so she said into the radio, “We’re fine, Danny. Concentrate on finding your exit point, and we’ll be ready to pick you up.”
“Was it my imagination, or did it take you a while to answer that one?” Danny asked.
“It’s your imagination,” she said, hoping it was at least semi-convincing.
She watched the kids cannonballing off the swimming platform at the back of the Trident and into the crystal blue water of the Gulf of Mexico. Most of them were out there—Dwayne, Elise and Vera, and the other kids she had never really made time to get to know. Their energy was boundless, and the cold water didn’t seem to have much of an effect on them.
Lara found herself envying their carefree spirit and at the same time was glad they didn’t know what was happening in Texas at the moment—with Danny and Gaby, or what Mercer’s men were doing to the collaborator towns.
“To let everyone know there’s something worse than the ghouls out here,” a man named Gregson, one of Mercer’s men, had once said to her.
They know now, don’t they? They know now…
“Ah, to be young and clueless,” a voice said behind her.
Lara looked over as Zoe pushed against the railing next to her. They were on the uppermost deck of the yacht, which gave Lara a great view of her surroundings, including that of the kids jumping into the water in front of her.
“There’s definitely something to be said about not knowing too much,” Lara said. “Besides, they’ve seen enough horrors to last a few lifetimes.” She paused for a moment. “They deserve this. We all do.”
“You partaking?”
“Not in this weather.”
“I can’t believe they’re not freezing to death by now.” The doctor tightened her jacket’s collar around her neck. “I have a feeling I’m going to get some new patients very soon.”
“Do we have flu shots?”
“Fully stocked.”
“Good.”
“Don’t worry, boss, I got the sickbay handled. You just take care of…every single other thing that matters.”
Lara smiled and sneaked a look at Zoe. They hadn’t known each other all that long, but Zoe had come to her with the best reference—Will’s. Over the months she had proven invaluable, and Lara wasn’t sure if she’d even have Danny now if it wasn�
�t for Zoe.
We’re all doing our part, Will. You’d be proud of us.
“Danny?” Zoe asked.
“Still out there with Gaby and Nate.”
“But okay?”
“In one piece,” she nodded, and thought, Thank God, because I’m the one who sent them out there. If anything happens to them, it would be my fault.
“So are we,” Zoe said.
Lara gave her a curious look.
Zoe smiled sheepishly. “We were just talking…”
“Again?”
“We’re always talking behind your back, Lara. You should know that by now.”
“So what was on the agenda this time?”
“We decided to make it clear to you that we believe in and trust you. That whatever you decide, we’re behind you. We know you’re going to get us to the Bengal Islands one way or another. We have faith.”
“Jesus, how long was this meeting?”
Zoe laughed softly. “And we mean every word of it. We know you’ve been second-guessing yourself. About Keo, Danny, about everything. And I’m telling you—we’re telling you—that you don’t have to.”
“Don’t I?”
“No, because none of us could have done a better job. And most importantly, we know it.”
“I shouldn’t have sent Danny and Gaby out there.”
“You made a calculated decision, and Danny agreed.”
“If they don’t come back, it’ll be my fault.”
“They’ll come back. Danny’s an ex-Ranger. He’ll make it back.”
“I wasted a lot of fuel getting to Sunport…”
“Because Keo called. And Keo is… Keo.”
Lara pursed her lips and couldn’t help but smile appreciatively back at the other woman. “Question.”
“Shoot.”
“When do you guys have these chats, and why am I never invited?”
“Because besides talking about you, we do a lot of talking about you.”
“Makes sense.”
Zoe looked back across the Trident, past the kids and at the open waters beyond. “And, oh, we also talked about this Mercer guy. He sounds like real bad news.”
“From everything I’ve heard, he is.”
“What do you think’s going on out there right now?”
The Purge of Babylon Series Box Set, Vol. 3 | Books 7-9 Page 40